Notes, quotes and information about the Arizona Diamondbacks.

D-backs react to comments by Reynolds

DENVER — One day after first baseman Mark Reynolds called out his teammates for a lack of effort, the D-backs seemed to be a team with some internal turmoil.

D-backs manager A.J. Hinch left second baseman Felipe Lopez and center fielder Chris Young out of the starting lineup, but was not specific about whether he did it to send a message about a lack of effort.

When asked if anything should be read into who was in the lineup and who was not, Hinch said, “It’s your call.”

It sure seemed like Hinch was trying to send a message because while a manager generally will not say he is sending a message, if he is not he usually makes it pretty clear that he’s not.

Meanwhile in the clubhouse, Reynolds stuck behind his prior comments.

“I had cameras in my face nine minutes after the game and I was real mad about how we played, about a lot of stuff,” Reynolds said Saturday. “Stuff came out pretty hot, but everything that I said I felt needed to be said.”

What’s interesting is that Reynolds chose to share his feelings about his teammates to the media rather than address them during one of the many meetings the team has had where players have spoken or directly to the player or players he thought were responsible.

“When we have team meetings I don’t say anything,” Reynolds said. “I don’t have a lot of time in this game. I just haven’t felt like it was my place, but like I said I was pretty hot last night and when you’re upset and you have things on your mind and you have an outlet to say it, it just all boiled over.”

Count catcher Chris Snyder among those that was in agreement with Reynolds had to say.

“Everything that was said was dead on,” Snyder said. “I think there’s a lack of a lot of things. The main thing being heart. Guys around feel like they should be owed something, everything should be given to them, they don’t have to fight, they don’t have to compete. They just go out there, put a smile on their face on every first and 15th of the month and other than that it’s ho hum. Winning doesn’t matter as long as they get to the first and 15th they’ll be happy.

“You can’t play that way and expect to compete. We lack certain things, heart being one, at certain times brains and more times than not guts. Those are three things that are needed to win.”

Snyder, who is on the disabled list with a lower back problem, was asked if he had expressed that to his teammates.

“I’ve been quiet,” he said. “I’ve been real quiet because I’m at the point where I’m tired of saying. It’s time to do. You can say all you want. Right now I can’t do so I’m not going to say. There’s been enough saying.”

Young took the opposite approach and instead defended his teammates and by extension, himself.

“I care, the guys in the clubhouse care,” Young said. “We don’t like losing, we’re not accepting losing. It’s not something where we’re going out there, we’re not lacking effort. It may look like that if you watch the game, I’m in the outfield, I know what it looks like. It looks like guys aren’t giving effort, but that’s not the case.

“Everybody is busting it. Everybody wants to win. Nobody in our clubhouse is accepting losing, is taking the year and going through the motions. I don’t know how people are reacting to the comments Mark said or how the fans are taking it. I just want to make it clear that we’re busting our butts, nobody’s slacking. Guys want to win and guys care. Everyone is just trying to find their own way to make it happen.”

Ace Dan Haren was asked if he thought that effort was the issue.

“I don’t know if it’s a mental thing,” Haren said. “It’s hard for me to judge that. But like I said after starts I can look in the mirror and tell myself that I’ve given that effort and I hope that everyone else can.”

Listening to Young, though, it sounded like there was plenty of caring in the clubhouse.

“There’s plenty of guys in this clubhouse that don’t sleep at night because we don’t win ballgames,” Young said. “There are plenty guys who are [mad] when we have a sloppy inning. There’s plenty of guys who are angry when we lose consecutive games, when we don’t win a series. Our entire clubhouse cares.”

It’s hard to know where the D-backs go from here. Maybe Reynolds’ comments will prove to by a catalyst. It appears as though the meetings have not helped and the team has a worse record since the managerial change so that was not a cure all either.

“Who knows what the next step is,” Snyder asked before answering his own question. “Grow up, be a man.”

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

9 Comments

I’m glad Reynolds said something. And if Young thinks there is effort, he needs to take a closer look at Lopez who has constantly short-armed balls throwen is direction all season. His lack of hustle and attempts to get to balls is obvious. What will help this team the most is to thin out the bench and player your starters everyday. While Byrnes, Jackson, Webb and Snyder are on the DL your everyday guys are (in Lineup order):Roberts (2B), Drew (SS), Upton (RF), Reynolds (3B), Young (CF), Romero (LF), Whitesell (1B), Monterro (C), Pitcher. Your bench will be Ojeda, Clark, Parra, Carlin and one other guy. I’d say good-bye to Tracy, Lopez, Rauch, and a couple of other pitchers.

Reynolds is right on the things he had said. Many of the players aren’t getting it done on defense night after night. But as well I think there batting is lacking. Look at the amount of homers per person, I believe only 2 D-backs are in double digits (Reynolds, Upton). I think last season Young was either the leader of the team in homers or runner-up and his overall batting average isn’t even .200, yet he is talking for the team saying people care and busting there butts everynight. Honestly I don’t see him doing anything except on defense. Winning ballgames isnt just defense but you have to be able to hit as well. I know they get in slumps but with Youngs slump he only picks up for one game then drops back into it. Young needs to focus at the plate alittle bit more and if he don’t get the job done he needs to stop backing up his team and get working on what counts cause he is one of the main problems.

If Young wants to whine about the effort he is putting in, he better take a good look at the film. Another $30 mil mistake! Reynolds is right on; this team is an embarrassment; and the manager is both a waste of position and money. The front office needs to take a good look at Josh Byrnes as he seems to be responsible for much of the problem.

Young – if you are going to play Little League again, start using two hands when you are catching a fly ball. No room for hotdogs. Also, Gracie & Darren…..we don’t need to hear you give each others surnames everytime you talk about or to the other one, it is sooooooooo irritating.

Way to go Mark on stepping up and saying everything I was thinking. Why didn’t our veterans Tracy and Clark say something? I think Hinch definitely made a statement by not starting Lopez and Young the other night. If I was manager, I would start benching players the next inning after they do something stupid and not wait until the next game. I think it is time we got rid of Tracy, Clark, Lopez, and Byrnes. The bullpen is too inconsistent. Why don’t we have some better pitchers in AA/AAA……Petit at 0-3 was the best we could call up recently??? These games are painful to watch at times……

Finally SOMEONE came out and said what needed to be said. It seems like the majority of the team is playing with no drive or emotion. Even though I commend Reynolds for stepping up and saying something, even he plays sub par at times. And Young has the nerve to say that guys are busting their butts?! You can tell by the look in his eyes when he steps up to the plate that he’s already out. In 2007, he had that fire in his eyes, and the end results proved it. He was hitting walk-offs every other night, sometimes consecutively. This team has slowly spiraled downward since the beginning of the season. No veteran leadership whatsoever. The front office brings back Tony Clark?? What was that all about? You bring back a guy that has had a lackluster career to “mentor” these kids? Something is seriously wrong with Josh Byrnes’ head. It’s just weird how every single player that the D-Backs let go or ship out, ends up doing well. Quentin, Overbay, Bonafacio. Hell, even Callaspo is having a decent year. My stomach still turns when I think of the front office passing on Carlos Quentin to give Eric Byrnes a $30 million dollar contract. Not to mention saying that money is tight, so we can’t sign Hudson or Dunn, yet they sign Jon Garland. Look how that turned out. Hudson is having an amazing year, and Dunn is being Dunn. I love this team, but they are so frustrating to watch.

It’s hard enough we have to sit watch the D-backs struggle through there “growing period” night after night with a Manager who cannot seem to figure out a starting line-up of his best EVERYDAY players. Pitching is one thing of course, but there is a lot of talent in that dugout that should be playing everyday. Does the GM know that the trading deadline is coming up very soon? Enough of the “experiments” all ready, let’s play baseball! My other concern are those two announcers (Grace & Sutton), they are pathetic! Grace sounds like recording out of the 30’s with that terrible voice and Sutton with all his exposure to the MASTER, Vin Scully, you would think he would have a lot more polish. They over abuse the use of each others names and those ridiculous trivia questions and who is doing what on the week end is bit much to listen to! To tell you the truth, I have been watching baseball for over 55 years and I am starting to watch the D-back games with out sound!

Reynolds is having a great year. The opposite is true for Chris Young. How many chances does a professional that can’t perform, get? Why is he still an every day player, when Alex Romero is sitting on the bench and his bat is wasted?

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.